Joomla vs Drupal - Comparision

Personally, I NEVER like the "versus" methodology of choosing anything. The CMS you choose should meet the needs of your project. For some projects both Joomla and Drupal are sledgehammers that have a lot of unneeded complexity. I have used Joomla extensively, and have no problem saying that Joomla is just too "heavy" for some sites. Regarding Drupal, I could never get the thing to install properly with earlier versions, but I may revisit. I do agree, however, Drupal is NOT for the novice CMS developer... if you are a real professional (and I do mean REAL, not someone learning PHP, etc., for the first time), then go for it. Otherwise, please be honest and let folks know that Drupal has a fairly high learning curve. The reason Drupal hasn't caught on as fast as Joomla could (and again, just my observation) be that people are mislead into thinking that they can just click the installer, pop in some modules, and BAM! Sorry, something that powerful takes time to learn and master.

Again, not a put down, just an observation.

 

The learning curve is easier in Drupal as my customers just click edit tab on the target page itself. Joomla would require a lot more explanation for initial edits.

 

Drupal gives you more flexibility for social things on the other hand Joomla is having literally good modules.

 

Are you kidding? Joomla's 1.5 documentation leaves a lot to be desired. I think their 1.0 documentation was much better. 1.5 has documentation too scattered.

 

Drupal Is Good and User Friendly

Born To Win-www.umamaheswari.eu

 

Now, when we have a dedicated forum for Joomla.. Why this thread can't be made sticky !!
Ultimately it will help reducing duplicate threads

 

Can I ask for your advice on which to choose. I want the smoothest transition of my site www.animeomnitude.com.
I am not worried about change of urls as I will redirect them all

 

I have to agree. Several large companies I know use Drupal for their CMS. Joomla seems more like a toy. From personal experience, I think Drupal is the much better alternative. Joomla has too many quirks and even the guys who work those kinks out get frustrated.

 

Personally I love Joomla to death because I know it inside out, but Drupal is good too...you just need to find what is right for you. This was a great post to help epople choose.

 

I should try drupal. I used joomla alone. I will definitely try drupal too after such a big and nice comparison.

 

i think joomla is better ...

 

Well, that's nice explaination, but as a beginner i use Joomla and i will learn about Drupal later. but both of them is powerful CMS

 

Disclaimer: I haven't installed either yet, so this is pure conjecture.

So I've been reading up and watching about 5,000 videos on drupal. Everything seems sooooooo easy. My question is why is everyone crying about the nearly vertical learning curve. Every video I've seen so far has been,

"insert module, click accept, click settings you like, click done"


Only one video even mentioned the gobbledygook

"make sure you start with the appropriate naming convention { drupal_ckk_chinese_calculous; // to the 9th power of greek_unintelligible_html //@%^#^ }"

Which made me wonder, perhaps the "it's so easy" videos must be lieing since everyone is crying, and the ridiculously hard to comprehend video was telling the truth.

 

- Use Joomla if you wish to receive quickly pleasant to an eye a site, and wish to deal with slow system, rigid classification and design restrictions / configuration options.

- Use Drupal if you want high efficiency, scalabilities, good management of a content and flexibility in design. But, be ready to spend a lot of time and money to receive a good site.

 

I´m a Joomla man no matter what! And that´s it! I´m also famous for my very bright posts in various forums.

 

If I may make a statement, and please do not take this insultingly:

Fanboy-isms don't help the average person. Real, honest information does. Drupal has its strengths, so does Joomla, and I'm saying this as a long-term Joomla user (ever since Mambo days). For me personally, Joomla works very well for what I want to accomplish. I don't need to put down Drupal to prove that "my CMS" is the best, and I know many Drupalers who share this sentiment.

That said...

Drupal is a very powerful, respected framework. However, for the AVERAGE person, especially someone very new to site administration and web authoring, Drupal is a bit too high-powered and has a learning curve that Drupal developers will tell you is higher than many other platforms. That is precisely BECAUSE it is such a strong application. Drupal, at least IMHO, is meant for the professional and/or someone with the technical aptitude and time to truly learn and master this system. That is why I am very hesitate to recommend it to the people I help. Now, once someone has more experience and wants to take Dupal on, go for it, but do not lightly recommend this platform to everyone all the time.

Joomla, for what it can deliver, strikes a relatively happy medium. Joomla, for what MOST people want to accomplish, provides more than enough flexibility and power. Joomla 1.5 has introduced an actual framework, making it more readily extensible than its 1.0 predecessor. Joomla CMS also, of all the classic CMS platforms, has the largest repository of readily available extensions, many of which are free. MOST people want to get up and running fairly quickly, and, if they're new webmastering, Joomla will probably be more than enough for the AVERAGE person. Even those who are more experienced can add custom functionality by coding their own extensions. I do admit that at times I find the framework a bit frustrating, but that's the trade-off for a system that, again for what it delivers, is easy relative to other platforms. But, yet again, I would not lightly recommend Joomla without knowing better about the person I'm recommending it to.

I will go farther to state that both Drupal and Joomla are or can be fairly complex compared to other systems. Many say that WordPress is easier than both and, again for the AVERAGE person, provides more than enough functionality. You cannot beat WordPress for the sheer number of plugins (almost 6,000), the vast majority of which are free. Because WordPress doesn't use MVC, many say that developing plugins for the system is much easier than either Drupal or Joomla. Though I find WordPress theming a bit daunting because I'm used to the Joomla method, you'll find FAR more free, high-quality WordPress themes than both Drupal and Joomla combined.

That doesn't even begin to scratch the surface in terms of all the various CMS programs out there that are meant for "boutique" or specialty sites that aren't meant to grow into mega-sites. Website Baker is a solid system I've used for "techno-pagans" who find WordPress to difficult to use, but has the ability to be easily extended through plugins.

The point? There is no ONE solution to rule them all. There's only the best solution for you and your project. Look at what you need to accomplish, be HONEST about your skills and limitations (including budget and time), give yourself room to grow or at least upgrade in the future, and then pick as best you can. If Drupal is best for you, use it. If Joomla suits your needs better, by all means take advantage. If neither is good for you, find what works. Screeching out a pet CMS of choice is very disingenuous and in the end doesn't really help anyone.

Just my opinion.

 

Here is a link to the beginner documentation for Joomla 1.5.X. : LINK

There is also an online demo that you can login into
and practice with Joomla without having to know anything.
You just start using it...

 

Great post. I don't use anything else that Drupal now. I love the Drupal multisite install... One core drupal install, modules are available for all sites... Simply great! Multi language support...

I agree that drupal is more for the advanced user, but with a little practice, and online searches, anybody can master this great CMS.

The only downside the drupal is finding great technical resources, harder to find, so more expensive!

Drupal rocks!

 

Where's the beginner guide to drupal and i mean one that start at point A not at point Q as in, in the middle of advanced physics and expects you to know everything beforehand.

 

The Link to the Quick Start Guide is here : LINK


It helps a lot to download XAMPP and make your computer your server
so that you do not have to do everything online. The link for that is : XAMPP


The reason I gave a link to the online demonstration is to help
those who just want to see what the backend administration
is for Joomla. You just get a login and start using Joomla as
if it were your own site. I liked it when I started out. But
then again, I am a geek at heart...